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| Money Talk | |
 Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Theater Administration :Money Talk |
 Topic: economy and ticket sales( Topic Closed) |
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75director
Celebrity 
Joined: 8/19/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 122 |
 Posted: 3/10/09 at 2:13pm |
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So far this season our overall attendance numbers are identical to last year at this time. The only show we've seen a drop in attendance at so far is our holiday production, which didn't include 30 kids, like it did the year before, so that's where the drop came from IMO. Otherwise we've been at or above last year's attendance for the rest of the season. It does help that we just installed new seats in our auditorium and we know that drew some past patrons back this season. Looking ahead, however, I am concerned about next season if the non-stop news of doom and gloom persists it will probably start effecting our numbers more. It has certainly effected our corporate sponsors and program advertisers.Of course Hollywood is seeing record numbers at the movies, perhaps, as Vicki pointed out in her post, our live theatres can offer that escapism people are finding at the movies, but also play up the fact it's local people doing things to make their communities better. Now if only someone would come up with a great way to deliver that message, they'd have a special place in all our greenrooms.
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dramacorrect
Lead 
Joined: 3/09/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 33 |
Posted: 4/25/09 at 10:03pm |
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Update to my previous post. Turns out that even with attendance down, we net more than our other two shows on that production of Taffetas. Overall, we're not doing too badly on our shows this year.
We just did a serious well-known drama, but still, drama--heavy subject matter. It sold great. Here's what's keeping things going here:
People will come to large-cast shows. Well known shows got our season ticket sales back up this year too. Now if I can talk our management into cutting back on some rediculous spending, we'd be ok.
People don't like bad sound. I've had people stop me on the street to tell me they can't hear this person or that person, and why don't we mic everyone? Because it's incredibly expensive. But that will keep people away.
Simplistic, but that's the feedback I have right now.
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doubleirish
Walk-On 
Joined: 4/11/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
Posted: 5/03/09 at 1:03am |
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We did James And The Giant Peach in March and were very pleased with the turnout. Our fall play, Wait Until Dark didn't get coverage in the local paper until the last weekend, so sales were poor. Plus, people like comedies more than the thrillers, etc.
We hadn't done a children's show in a couple of years, but the parents of the cast were really pleased with the production and there was a lot of great buzz around town, so I suspect that was why we did so well. Plus it was a fun play. As a result, we've decided to do a children's show every year. We thought the economy would be a problem for us, but I think we had the right play at the right time. |
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jayzehr
Celebrity
Joined: 8/11/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 537 |
Posted: 5/03/09 at 4:30am |
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Yep. The more people in the cast, the more friends and family buying tickets and the more word of mouth. SImple but true. You like to think that people are coming because of the quality of the show, etc. but that's not always the case. |
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dramacorrect
Lead
Joined: 3/09/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 33 |
Posted: 5/04/09 at 10:48am |
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I don't know that they're not, I think that sometimes just the added pressure of knowing someone gets them to come. I love theatre, and so does my DH, but there's a lot of times even I don't feel like going to the show for whatever reason.
I think in our community we have an advantage because we're a bigger small town (12,000) and if we have a minister or a city manager or a teacher in the show, it sparks a lot of extra interest.
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kiwiholly
Player 
Joined: 10/01/06 Location: New Zealand Online Status: Offline Posts: 12 |
Posted: 5/04/09 at 9:24pm |
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I'll be finding this out soon too, since we're opening Oliver Twist on Friday. Thankfully there are a TON of kids (and families) in the cast, who are all selling tickets to their friends, so HOPEFULLY we should be ok.
I agree with dramacorrect too, about having a well-known community figure in the cast, lol. There are a couple of teachers in ours who have been adding "Featuring Mrs. *name* as Nancy!" to the bottoms of the posters they're putting up at school. :P |
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teejaystudio
Player
Joined: 8/28/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 23 |
Posted: 9/28/09 at 9:37am |
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Which system do you use and how would you rate it on costs on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being very economical) and benefits/customization (10 being very robust)? Thanks. |
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SpenceKenzer
Star 
Joined: 1/23/09 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 71 |
Posted: 9/28/09 at 8:46pm |
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The only box office computer system I've ever used is called Box Office for Windows. You can find it at this website: http://www.boxpro.com/index.html It is one of if not the least expensive system available; our theater is a non-profit building for community groups; they have very little money to spend on frivols and extras, so in 2002 they went with this software. I have no basis for comparison, since I've never used any other software for this. I like this software; it does what my CT needs, as long as you know how to deal with it. I hope this information helps. |
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Saludos, my dahlinks, and you know who you are ... ! |
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